Ilan Haber, Ophir Optronics Ltd
Now that the PC is an indispensable part of the office and the laboratory, it is important to be able to integrate measurement instruments to the PC, particularly instruments that can gather large volumes of data. There is a need for a unified connectivity architecture wherein all measurement sensors are compatible with all display meters and are then easily connected to the PC.
The connection of the Laser Power and Energy sensor with a PC results in a powerful system. It combines the convenience, value, and flexibility of computer-based operation with the choice of a wide array of NIST-traceable, calibrated thermal, pyroelectric, and photodiode sensors, providing accurate laser, diode, and fiber-optic power measurements from 300fW to 30 kW. The software application packages make single or multi-channel power monitoring applications easy, with a complete set of statistical analysis, graphics display, and data storage functions.
Components and demo code for software system integrators using various programming environments, including C++, C#, Java, LabVIEW, MATLAB, Python and VB.NET, are offered to those that want to tailor-make a solution that best integrates into their test and measurement system. A complete software PC application is available that can turn the PC into a full-blown laser test station.
Utilizing smart head technology, the PC sensor interface supports the complete line of thermopile, photodiode, and pyroelectric smart head sensors.
Some PC sensor interfaces can be expanded to handle 1, 2, or 4 sensors. These collect data from all sensors simultaneously and transmit to the PC via USB. Some interfaces can also measure pulses at up to 25 KHz and detect missing pulses. Applications include:
- Peak-to-peak stability of energy pulses
- Power drift of CW lasers over time
- Graphical display of dB loss measured in a fiber optic cable
- Logging energy of rapidly pulsing lasers at 1000 Hz or more
In addition to a standard USB connection to the PC from a sensor interface device, there are additional ways to connect to a PC.
One of them is with a Bluetooth wireless interface. Just plug any smart sensor into the battery-operated wireless interface and it broadcasts to any PC or laptop within 10 meters. No clutter on the workbench and no long cables to worry about. This is a great solution for hard to measure situations, such as a glove box or a high power laser behind barriers. Some extended range versions reach up to 60 meters. The Bluetooth wireless interface is also available mounted directly on the measuring sensor for maximum portability with no wires.
One of the inconveniences of measuring laser power and energy is related to the cables connecting the display to the sensor. The cables are of limited flexibility and clutter the workspace where the measurement is to be done. Sometimes, due to their stiffness, movement of the cable disrupts the sensors and misaligns the set up.
Cables are also a problem in areas which are supposed to be sealed, like a glove box or a vacuum chamber. In these cases, the introduction of the cable in the measurement location requires special means to maintain the integrity of the chamber or the box. This might require inclusion of connectors on the wall of the chamber or box, or special fittings to allow for the passage of the cable.
Cable length is determined during manufacturing and different set ups call for different cable lengths, a fact which makes the sensor more expensive since it has to be custom-made and custom-calibrated.
The Bluetooth wireless interface solution solves these problems and has been approved by the FCC and other regulating authorities around the world. The PC can run dedicated software supplied with the Bluetooth wireless interface.
The Bluetooth wireless interface is powered by a rechargeable battery which powers it and the sensor. Battery life is typically 20 hours with a pyroelectric sensor and 40 hours with a thermal sensor.
Standard software for power measurement applications is a Windows-based application. The software includes complete data logging, statistics, and trending analysis. Additional features should include:
- Offset selection
- Selection of measurement wavelength
- Extensive logging options
- Unlimited data storage text files for graphical analysis; can also be imported into Microsoft Excel
- Selectable measurement limits
- Displayed power units in watts, dB or dBm
The software can simultaneously perform statistical and trend analysis for power/energy stability and drift for each channel. Measurements can be recorded and analyzed over a selected period of time for display on a histogram plot for each channel.
The software data logging functions collect user-specified power at selected intervals and durations. The data log files contain all test information (data, time, detector, and settings), and are formatted for easy spreadsheet importing and analysis. Data can also be recorded in real-time mode and viewed at a later date to reproduce the displayed results.
Besides their use as stand-alone, full-featured laser power/energy meters, the above-mentioned devices are easily incorporated into larger end-user applications. This allows system integrators to leverage commercial laser power and energy measurement hardware with legacy analysis packages.
These devices can support various communication protocols including RS232, USB, Ethernet and GPIB. RS232 communication is the simplest to integrate into your OEM application.
The laser community has long recognized the growing LabVIEW community of developers. For many years, customers have been provided with LabVIEW libraries for Ophir's laser measurement devices. These are full, open-source demo applications that can be used as is or tailored by the LabVIEW programmer to his specific needs.
There are simple starter applications available that allow the LabVIEW programmer to experiment freely to fully feel the strength of our devices' respective command sets.
These applications contain VI's (Virtual Instruments) to control the instrument. Users can combine VI's to create successively larger and more versatile larger VI's by simply connecting them together. Users can create sophisticated, custom applications in a short time.
Now that the PC is an indispensable tool in the laboratory and engineering/design, it is important to be able to integrate laser measurement instruments with PCs. A wide variety of connectivity options and software tools have expanded the capabilities and flexibility of today's laser power meters.
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